THE  PRINCIPLE 

•B  «  BY  GEO.  L.  DILLMAN  V  V 


THE  PRINCIPLE 


THE  PRINCIPLE 


SAN  FRANCISCO: 

A.  M.  ROBERTSON 

MCMXXII 


BRUCE  BROUGH,  PRINTER:  SAN  FRANCISCO 


FOREWORD 

Somebody,  probably  Bacon,  who  has  been 
blamed  with  many  things,  including  Shake- 
speare, said  "Principles  are  reached  by  in- 
duction" Some  may  be.  It  is  also  submitted 
that  they  may  arrive  another  way.  The  induc- 
tion method  is  not  in  accord  with  the  story  of 
Newton,  the  apple  and  the  Law  of  Gravity. 
Accident  and  inspiration  may  at  times  be 
credited. 

Principles  must  stand  the  test  of  induction. 
Any  fact  in  contradiction  will  upset  any 
alleged  principle.  "The  Principle"  here 
formulated  did  not  arrive  as  a  result  of  con- 
sistent study.  It  came  out  of  a  clear  sky.  This 
is  its  genesis: 

When  I  was  a  young  man,  I  had  charge  of 
a  division  of  railroad  construction.  There 
was  a  dispute  with  a  bridge  contractor.  Some 
extra  work  was  necessary.  If  it  were  my  fault, 
it  should  be  estimated  and  paid  for.  If  it  were 
his  fault,  he  should  do  it  at  his  own  expense.  So 
far  as  "The  Principle"  is  concerned,  it  makes 


941292 


no  difference  which  was  right.  He  appealed 
to  my  superior,  who  came  and  looked  into  the 
matter,  told  me  that  my  other  work  would  take 
all  my  time  and  that  he  would  send  another 
engineer  to  take  charge  of  that  bridging. 

In  a  day  or  so  the  bridge  engineer  came 
with  the  usual  letter.  The  last  paragraph,  how- 
ever, said,  "This  does  not  relieve  you  of  any 
responsibility  for  that  bridging."  I  slept  over 
the  letter,  put  the  new  man  to  work  in  the 
morning,  as  one  of  my  crew.  He  had  charge 
of  the  bridging,  under  my  direction.  That  was 
not  what  the  resident  engineer  had  intended, 
nor  what  the  bridge  engineer  had  understood. 
It  was  what  I  interpreted  the  letter  to  mean. 
The  viewpoint  does  affect  the  reason. 

The  matter  was  passed  up  to  the  resident 
who  again  came  down,  hot-foot,  to  settle  the 
thing.  My  reply  to  his  question  was  to  call  his 
attention  to  the  last  paragraph  of  his  letter, 
adding,  "  You  can't  saddle  me  with  responsi- 
bility and  deny  me  authority  to  execute  it.  If 
you  take  from  me  all  authority,  you  must 
relieve  me  of  responsibility.1' 

The  idea  then  expressed,  with  no  premedi- 
tation, has  grown  into  this  formulation.  It 
was  good  then.  Its  importance  increased  (to 


my  understanding)  for  years.  Now  I  know 
it  is  the  most  important  item  of  knowledge  so 
far  formulated  by  and  for  the  human  brute. 

Its  presentation  has  been  intermittent,  one 
interruption  being  the  World  War.  It  has  been 
so  well  received  by  well  known  executives  of 
the  World  that  it  is  now  known  to  be  true  en- 
tirely aside  from  my  own  consciousness.  "The 
Principle"  will  not  be  copyrighted.  I  thank  the 
many  friends  who  have  allowed  me  to  quote 
them. 

Geo.  L.  Dillman. 

San  Francisco,  June  1922. 


THE  PRINCIPLE 

Authority  and  Responsibility  should 
lie  together. 

A^EW  understand  this.  Others  partially 
understand  it.  To  some  it  is  so  patent 
that  the  words  seem  synonymous. 
Yet  they  are  perfectly  antithetic.  Its  im- 
portance lies  in: 

1.  Its  universality,  applying  to  every  act 
or  failure  to  act,  of  every  individual,  every 
community  of  individuals,  up  to  nations 
and  combinations  of  nations. 

2.  Its   practicability,   requiring   no   con- 
census of  opinion  to  operate  it.  Each  indi- 
vidual will  operate  it  to  the  extent  he  under- 
stands it. 

3.  Its   simplicity,    being   much    simpler 


]6        •//}'!;  JHE  PRINCIPLE 

than  these  or  any  words  in  which  it  can  be 
expressed. 

4.  Its  infallibility.  Every  accordance  is 
right.  Every  right  act  is  in  accord.  Every 
violation  is  wrong.  Every  mistake,  error, 
sin  or  crime  is  a  violation.  Every  accordance 
is  rewarded.  Every  violation  is  punished. 

Bacon  says,  "Words  in  all  languages  are 
commonly  false  or  inadequate  marks  or 
signs  of  things  and  by  no  means  convey  just 
and  perfect  notions."  This  is  a  perfect  no- 
tion. That  reader  and  writer  may  be  en 
rapport,  these  definitions  are  in  order: 

Authority  is  the  right  to  do  something. 
The  abstract  right  without  the  means  of 
performance  is  null.  So  to  the  right  must  be 
added  the  means  of  performance. 

The  means  are  various,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances. Tools,  strength,  money,  repu- 
tation, organization,  courage,  are  some  of 
them.  The  potency  of  any  means  of  perfor- 
mance is  enhanced  by  knowledge  of  how  to 
use  them.  Without  knowledge,  authority  is 
often  unused,  misused,  perverted. 

So  authority  is  complete  when  the  right 
to  act  and  the  means  of  performance  are 


THE  PRINCIPLE  IJ 

joined  to  a  knowledge  of  when,  where  and 
how  to  use  them. 

Authority  is  naturally  desirable.  We  all 
want  to  own  things,  to  control  things,  to 
use  things,  to  do  things.  An  overwhelming 
majority  of  the  human  race  wants  to  boss 
the  job,  no  matter  what  it  is.  Each  and 
every  one  of  these  things  is  right  and  proper 
when  the  authority  of  ownership,  control, 
use,  performance,  is  accompanied  by  the 
corresponding  responsibility  of  possession, 
use,  action.  Otherwise  they  are  wrong.  Au- 
thority includes  all  that  is  desirable.  There 
is  nothing  anyone  naturally  wants  that  is 
not  some  form  of  authority. 

Responsibility  is  also  of  various  kinds, 
physical,  moral,  financial,  etc.  Whatever 
its  intimate  nature,  its  general  nature  is  a 
load  to  be  shouldered,  a  burden  to  be  borne. 

Responsibility  is  naturally  undesirable.  It 
is  sometimes  shirked.  Passing-the-buck  is  a 
common  human  activity.  But  it  is  the  price  of 
authority.  It  must  be  paid  or  penalty  follows. 

The  necessary  relation  of  authority  and 
responsibility  is  what  this  is  about.  It  is 
called  "The  Principle." 


1 8  THE  PRINCIPLE 

Authority  and  responsibility  should  lie 
together.  Every  act  in  accordance  spells 
advance,  success.  Every  act  in  violation 
spells  failure,  trouble.  Since  there  is  only 
one  way  to  be  right  and  many  to  be  wrong, 
examples  of  violation  are  more  common 
than  examples  of  accordance.  Bacon  says, 
"In  the  raising  of  axioms,  negative  in- 
stances have  the  greater  weight." 

Take  a  man  driving  a  horse. 

1.  Horse  properly  hitched.  Man  in  con- 
trol. Knows  how  to  drive.  Safe  trip.  Author- 
ity and  responsibility  with  man. 

2.  Same  man,  same  horse.  Man  drunk, 
lines  break  or,  in  some  manner,  man  loses 
control.  Docile  horse.  Goes  home.  Avoids 
collisions.  Safe  trip.  Authority  and  respon- 
sibility with  horse. 

3.  Same  man,  same  horse,  same  loss  of 
control.  Horse  gets  scared,  runs  away.  Au- 
thority   with    horse.    Responsibility    scat- 
tered,   with    the    man,    passing    vehicles, 
pedestrians. 

4.  Same  man,  same  horse,  same  loss  of  con- 
trol, passenger.  Passenger  recovers  control. 
Authority  and  responsibility  with  passenger. 


THE  PRINCIPLE  19 

5.  Guest  gets  rattled,  grabs  lines,  neither 
controls  nor  allows  driver  to.  Disaster. 

And  so  on,  with  an  infinite  number  of 
variations.  We  are  the  drivers.  We  are  the 
horses  driven.  We  are  passengers.  We  are 
passers-by.  We  are  cognizant  of  our  abili- 
ties. We  are  ignorant.  We  shoulder  our 
responsibilities,  sometimes  help  others.  We 
butt  in.  We  shirk.  We  pass  the  buck.  We 
let  others  butt  in  to  our  affairs. 

There  is  no  trouble  possible  that  does  not 
come  from  some  violation  of  "The  Princi- 
ple." Generally  it  comes  direct  and 
promptly  to  the  violator.  It  always  reaches 
him  finally.  Violation  is  all  that  provokes 
righteous  anger.  We  are  angry  when  it 
affects  us  and  ours.  We  despise  the  violator 
when  it  affects  others. 

"The  Principle"  is  a  true  yardstick  to 
measure  the  meanness  or  greatness  of  men, 
singly  and  collectively,  past  and  present, 
dead  and  alive.  It  measures  us  all.  It  is  the 
one  thing  that  will  justify  ourselves  to  our 
own  souls.  We  can't  dodge  it.  Nobody  can. 

Since  men  are  judged  by  their  perfor- 
mances, "The  Principle"  is  also  a  perfect 


2O  THE  PRINCIPLE 

measure  of  the  greatness  or  meanness  of  all 
acts  or  failures  to  act.  Every  clause  of 
every  treaty  or  edict  or  declaration  or  con- 
stitution or  statute  since  the  dawn  of  his- 
tory can  be  measured  by  it,  has  been  right 
or  wrong  as  it  accorded  with  or  violated  it. 
As  one  reads  history  and  biography, 
"The  Principle"  is  in  evidence  in  each  inci- 
dent, each  character;  advance  and  success 
in  accordance  always;  trouble  and  failure 
in  violation,  just  as  certainly. 

"The  Principle"  is  put  into  operation  by 
these  three  don'ts,  which  cover  every  case 
of  contact  and  conduct: 

1.  Don't  butt  in.  Butting  in  is  excercising 
some  form  of  authority  when  you  do  not 
shoulder  the  corresponding  responsibility. 
If  the  responsibility  lies  elsewhere  or  you 
are   unable   or   unwilling   to   shoulder   it, 
don't  butt  in. 

2.  Don't  shirk.  Carry  your  natural  or 
acquired    responsibilities.     Shirking    your 
share  of  a  joint  load  puts  extra  burden  on 
your  associates,  at  times  to  the  breaking 
point.  Don't  overload  yourself.  Don't  have 
to  call  for  help.  You  may  not  get  it.  The 


THE   PRINCIPLE  21 

attempt  to  accept  responsibilities  beyond 
one's  ability  to  execute  them  causes  suicides 
and  fills  our  asylums.  Don't  pass  the  buck. 
Don't  shirk. 

3.  Don't  let  anybody  butt  into  your  af- 
fairs. This  sounds  warlike.  It  is  warlike.  It 
is  the  only  justification  for  war.  It's  a  per- 
fect justification.  The  individual  or  the  or- 
ganization or  the  nation  that  violates  this 
"don't"  deserves  the  slavery  that  ensues.  If 
the  butter-in  is  stopped  at  the  beginning, 
there  is  no  resentment  on  his  part.  If  it  is 
allowed  to  continue  a  little,  the  idea  of 
vested  rights  gets  into  his  mind  and  it  is 
harder  to  stop.  If  it  is  allowed  to  continue, 
it  becomes  a  divine  right.  That  was  Ger- 
many's case.  The  German  people  were  for 
the  Government,  not  the  Government  for 
the  people. 

The  line  between  one's  own  business  and 
the  affairs  of  others  is  usually  very  plain. 
There  are  cases  where  it  is  not  so  plain  but 
it  is  always  there.  The  most  important  pur- 
pose of  education  is  to  enable  one  to  dis- 
cern it,  that  'The  Principle"  may  be  prop- 
erly applied. 


22  THE  PRINCIPLE 

"The  Principle"  is  a  Natural  Law.  To 
the  extent  we  know  natural  laws,  we  are 
educated.  To  the  extent  we  are  in  accord 
with  Natural  Laws,  we  are  successful.  To 
the  extent  we  violate  Natural  Laws,  we  are 
failures.  Natural  Laws  never  change.  Our 
perceptions  change.  Our  knowledge  in- 
creases but  Nature's  Laws  are  fixed. 

"The  Principle"  is  a  wonderful  rule  of 
conduct.  To-do-or-not-to-do  is  an  every 
day  question  with  everybody,  often  many 
times  a  day.  The  facts  examined  in  the 
light  of  "The  Principle"  will  give  the  right 
answer  every  time.  Without  it  there  is  often 
much  doubt.  With  it,  we  make  no  experi- 
ments, take  no  chances,  run  no  risks.  Any- 
thing that  puts  authority  and  responsibility 
together  is  right.  Anything  that  separates 
them  is  wrong.  There  is  no  other  right,  no 
other  wrong. 

The  statements  made  are  so  broad  it 
hardly  seems  they  can  all  be  true.  They  are 
true,  every  one.  Truth  never  clashes  with 
other  truth.  Truth  clashes  with  error  and 
errors  with  each  other  but  no  two  truths 
are  ever  contradictory  or  inconsistent. 


THE   PRINCIPLE  2J 

Contradiction  is  proof  that  supposed  truth 
is  not  entirely  so.  Another  thing.  Truth  may 
exist  without  our  perceiving  it.  If  you  can 
see  "The  Principle,"  it  is  yours.  Don't  take 
another's  say-so  for  it.  That  would  be  a 
violation  of  "The  Principle"  itself. 

Magna  Charta,  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States,  are  applica- 
tions of  "The  Principle."  Some  of  the 
amendments  of  the  last  are  violations. 
Taxation  without  representation  was  a 
violation.  We  seceded  from  England 
largely  on  that  account.  If  we  had  been 
given  representation,  we  might  be  a  Colony 
of  Great  Britain  today.  Our  secession  un- 
doubtedly helped  other  British  colonies  to 
get  representation,  or  their  own  parlia- 
ments. 

All  the  sins  of  commission  consist  of 
butting  in,  wielding  authority  without  re- 
sponsibility. All  the  sins  of  omission  are 
shirking,  refusing  to  wield  authority  when 
it  should  be  done.  AH  the  sins  of  slavery,  or 
submission,  are  letting  some  one  else  butt 
in  to  our  affairs. 


24  THE  PRINCIPLE 

This  is  a  big  thing.  All  principles  are  big 
things.  That's  what  principle  means.  Its 
application  is  co-extensive  with  human 
activity.  It  invades  the  physical  world. 
The  effect  of  posting  or  trussing  an  arch 
hurts  it  as  an  arch.  The  attempt  to  make  a 
dam  tight  in  more  than  one  place  weakens 
the  dam,  sometimes  to  destruction.  Load- 
ing a  bridge  beyond  its  capacity,  steam  in 
a  boiler  beyond  the  strength  of  its  joints, 
current  through  a  wire  beyond  its  capacity 
to  carry  juice,  tension  in  a  rod  beyond  its 
strength,  are  all  violations  of  "The  Prin- 
ciple," therefore  failures.  Strength  or  ca- 
pacity is  authority.  Load  is  responsibility. 

To  the  individual,  "The  Principle"  is  a 
safe  guide  in  all  performances.  A  Natural  law 
is  higher  than  a  man-made  law.  It  is  more 
important  that  it  be  obeyed.  Man-made 
laws  change.  Natural  laws  are  permanent. 
One  may  escape  detection  or,  on  detection, 
avoid  punishment  for  a  breach  of  man-made 
law.  No  such  immunity  exists  for  violation 
of  Natural  laws.  So  the  fiction  that  ignor- 
ance of  the  law  is  no  excuse  has  a  founda- 
tion jieeper  than  is*generally  considered. 


THE  PRINCIPLE  25 

To  parents  and  children  "The  Principle" 
is  most  important.  When  parents  are  in 
accord,  each  shouldering  their  own  and 
recognizing  the  other's  responsibilities,  con- 
ceding authority  for  their  execution,  the 
happiest  family  is  the  result.  We  are  not 
far  removed  from  barbarism.  Civilization 
is  a  thin  veneer.  It  was  almost  rubbed  off 
in  the  World  War.  In  family  affairs  fre- 
quently one  or  the  other  wants  to  be  boss. 
Sometimes  both  do.  When  the  question  is 
settled,  if  the  dominant  one  carries  the 
responsibilities  and  the  other  concedes  such 
dominance,  the  result  is  still  a  very  happy 
combination.  When  either  butts  in  to  the 
other's  affairs  or  shirks  their  own  responsi- 
bilities, the  result  is  friction,  trouble,  un- 
happiness,  divorce. 

In  the  case  of  children,  growth  from  in- 
fancy needs  "The  Principle"  at  every  step. 
Authority  may  be  given  as  fast  and  as  far 
as  responsibility  is  felt,  but  never  faster. 
The  youth  given  liberty,  tools,  horses,  au- 
tomobiles, money,  beyond  his  feeling  of 
responsibility  for  each  of  those  things,  is 
awfully  handicapped  in  life.  "The  curse  of 


26  THE  PRINCIPLE 

wealth"  and  "The  blessings  of  poverty"  are 
proverbs  arising  from  ability  and  inability 
respectively,  to  violate  "The  Principle." 

Volumes  could  be  written  on  applica- 
tions of  "The  Principle"  to  politics.  A  very 
common  trouble  is  our  way  of  campaigning. 
When  the  elected  one  comes  to  office  with 
no  strings  on  him,  the  best  results  ensue — 
with  that  officer.  By  pre-election  promises, 
party  or  personal  fealty,  the  officer  has  ob- 
tained only  the  responsibility  of  office,  hav- 
ing ceded  the  authority  for  the  sake  of 
election.  Then  the  Civil  Service  Board 
compel  him  to  work  with  tools  of  their,  not 
his,  selection.  The  result  is  less  then  good. 
He  fails,  partly  or  wholly,  as  a  result  of 
conditions.  One  who  understands  "The 
Principle"  will  not  accept  office  under  those 
conditions.  That  is  the  main  reason  why 
inferior  minds  clamor  for  office  and  men  of 
better  intelligence  refuse  to  stand  for  elec- 
tion. The  recall  is  for  the  elected  one,  or 
political  oblivion  or  both.  If  he  makes  his 
promises  good,  he  ruins  his  future.  If  he 
repudiates  them,  his  past  is  vulnerable. 
The  man  best  fitted  to  administer  an  office 


THE  PRINCIPLE  27 

is  often  entirely  unfitted  to  obtain  it.  The 
people  suffer  and  they  should.  They  curse 
politics  and  it  is  their  own  fault.  They 
should  not  require  or  allow  pre-election 
promises.  The  man  who  knows  exactly 
what  he  is  going  to  do  in  any  future  case  is 
generally  a  liar  anyway. 

If  there  is  any  one  thing  the  lay  mind 
can  understand  it  is  that  our  Constitution 
contemplated  three  branches  of  govern- 
ment, with  some  checks  between,  generally 
acting  independently,  with  defined  author- 
ity in  each  case.  Whether  that  is  the  best 
may  be  a  matter  of  opinion,  but  that  intent 
is  the  fact.  These  are  the  Legislative,  the 
Executive  and  the  Judicial. 

The  President,  largely  through  patronage, 
has  affected  Congress.  This  began  under 
Jackson  and  has  increased  until  it  is  now 
fairly  complete.  The  President  either  dic- 
tates legislation  or  is  consulted  about  it 
prior  to  enactment.  So  the  laws  of  Congress 
are  the  President's  ideas  instead  of  the 
mind  of  Congress.  The  President  is  butting 
in  to  the  extent  of  such  control.  It  is  a 
change  in  form  of  Government,  a  leaning 


28  THE  PRINCIPLE 

toward  autocracy.  It  makes  no  difference 
what  the  President's  name  is.  It  is  the 
biggest  graft  in  our  whole  system.  Graft  of 
money  is  insignificant  by  contrast.  Ordi- 
nary graft  is  to  gain  power.  This  is  graft  of 
power  itself.  It  is  weilding  power  without 
responsibility. 

Congress  is  shirking.  The  Constitution 
gave  it  authority  to  do  specific  things. 
Passing  the  buck  to  the  President  is  as  bad 
as  the  President's  butting  in.  Congress 
should  not  do  the  first  nor  allow  the  second. 
President  and  Congress  are  not  immune 
from  Natural  laws.  They  are  punished  for 
violation,  same  as  others.  Violation  by  both 
is  the  reason  for  their  being  called  "Dicta- 
tor" and  "Rubber  stamp"  respectively. 
The  serious  thing  is  that  the  country  suffers. 

Organization  is  the  welding  of  parts  into 
units.  Its  purpose  is  to  develop  strength  by 
concerted  action.  A  battering  ram  is  organi- 
zation. Organizations  are  battering  rams. 
Their  keynote  is  subordination.  Every  part 
must  be  subordinate.  The  ultimate  superior 
must  be  subordinate  to  the  purposes  of  the 
organization. 


THE  PRINCIPLE  29 

There  is  no  difference  in  principle  be- 
tween civil,  military,  political,  business  or 
other  organizations.  That  is,  the  same  ideas 
make  for  success  or  failure.  There  is  a  differ- 
ence in  the  penalties  paid  for  failures. 

Discipline  is  the  habit  of  subordination. 
It  exists  willingly,  thro'  appreciation  of  the 
necessities  of  the  case;  or  forcibly,  thro'  fear 
of  punishment.  The  latter  is  the  Prussian 
variety.  The  efficiency  of  an  organization  is 
directly  related  to  its  discipline.  Insubordi- 
nation in  any  degree  is  akin  to  a  balky  mule. 
The  rest  of  the  team  has  to  pull  the  mule  as 
well  as  the  rest  of  the  load.  Sometimes  they 
get  stuck. 

"The  Principle"  teaches  all  there  is  to 
organization,  discipline,  efficiency.  Super- 
iors should  have  ability  and  be  given  au- 
thority. They  must  be  considerate  and 
shoulder  responsibility.  Subordinates  are 
guided  by  the  same  rules.  There  are  de- 
grees of  subordination.  They  must  not  butt 
in  to  superiors'  affairs.  They  must  initiate 
subordinate  moves  and  carry  on. 

This  brings  up  the  Initiative  of  the  Sub- 
ordinate. Some  years  ago,  Captain  (now 


3O  THE  PRINCIPLE 

Admiral)  Sims  made  a  talk  on  this  subject 
to  the  Naval  Militia  of  Philadelphia.  After 
expurgation  by  Mr.  Daniels,  it  was  pub- 
lished. That  was  applied  to  military  organi- 
zations. It  applies  to  all  organizations. 

The  efficiency  of  any  organization  de- 
pends largely  on  the  initiative  of  the  sub- 
ordinate. The  purpose,  the  movement  of 
the  moment,  general  directions,  should 
proceed  from  the  head  down.  All  details 
that  can  be  left  to  subordinates  should  be 
so  left.  It  relieves  the  head,  encourages  the 
subordinate,  develops  esprit  de  corps,  gets 
things  done,  done  right,  done  promptly. 

Heads  of  affairs  frequently  say  they  have 
no  one  in  their  organization  to  succeed 
them.  The  fault  is  theirs.  They  have  never 
allowed  their  subordinates  any  latitude. 
They  have  attended  to  unnecessary  details 
themselves.  The  result  is  bad,  for  the  sub- 
ordinates, themselves,  the  organization. 
The  only  way  to  learn  how  to  do  anything 
is  to  do  it. 

Like  other  things,  initiative  can  be  over- 
done. When  it  applies  to  any  but  subordi- 
nate moves  to  the  known  end,  it  is  insub- 


THE  PRINCIPLE  JI 

ordination  and   may  be   as  disastrous  as 
direct  disobedience  of  orders. 

Ethics  is  defined  as  the  basic  principles  of 
right  action.  "The  Principle"  covers  them 
all. 

Morality  has  reference  to  mental  attitude 
rather  than  performance.  There  can  be 
nothing  immoral  if  "The  Principle"  is  fol- 
lowed. Everything  immoral  is  violation. 

Law  and  its  administration  are  not  en- 
tirely satisfactory  in  any  country.  Statutes 
are  sometimes  wrong.  Judicial  findings 
sometimes  do  wrong.  The  influence  of  pull 
is  frequent.  Since  nothing  is  permanently 
settled  till  it  is  settled  right,  laws  are  con- 
stantly changing. 

Nobody  in  the  trial  of  a  case  is  interested 
in  abstract  justice.  The  parties  and  their 
attorneys  are  after  a  verdict.  They  are  fre- 
quently not  particular  how  they  get  it. 
The  witnesses  are  generally  partial.  The 
alleged  experts,  no  matter  how  unbiased 
they  start,  are  as  partial  as  the  attorneys, 
once  their  opinion  is  formed.  The  presiding 
officer  should  be  and  generally  is  neutral. 
He  is  so  hedged  about  with  rules  of  evi- 


32  THE  PRINCIPLE 

dence,  precedents,  court  procedures,  cus- 
toms, that  his  concern  largely,  sometimes 
wholly,  is  to  avoid  error,  subsequent  rever- 
sal and  its  consequences  in  reputation. 

Every  item  in  the  unsatisfactory  state  of 
the  law  is  a  direct  violation  of  "The  Prin- 
ciple." Partial  interest,  self  interest,  local 
interest,  pull,  compromise,  expediency, 
sophistry,  politics,  delay,  all  are  violations. 
Justice  would  be  vastly  improved  if  "The 
Principle"  were  a  guide  in  the  enactment 
of  laws  and  in  the  rulings  and  findings  of 
courts. 

Religion  is  many  things  to  many  people. 
They  all  teach  right  living  here,  proper  con- 
duct in  this  life.  There  is  not  much  agree- 
ment about  our  origin.  That  is  beyond 
change,  so  it  is  interesting  as  throwing  some 
light  on  the  hereafter.  There  is  little  agree- 
ment, except  hope,  about  the  hereafter. 
There  is  quite  general  agreement  that  good 
conduct  here  will  be  rewarded  there,  if 
there  is  any  "there." 

Heaven  and  hell  may  be  here  or  here- 
after. If  here,  acts  in  accord  with  "The 
Principle"  are  rewarded  here,  every  day, 


THE  PRINCIPLE  33 

visibly.  Acts  in  violation  are  punished. 
If  hereafter,  as  a  universal  rule  of  conduct, 
it  teaches  right  living  here  and  the  reward 
hoped  for  hereafter,  or  vice  versa,  as  the 
case  may  be. 

"I  intend  to  use  your  gospel  as  oppor- 
tunity offers.  Responsibility  is  a  big 
thought.  Recognition  of  it  and  the  conse- 
cration that  follows  is  all  that  is  vital  in 
any  religion." — Chas.  A.  Murdock,  S.  F. 
1917. 

Philosophy  is  a  compound  of  eternal  veri- 
ties, with  their  applications.  The  first 
philosophers  sought  the  base  of  things. 
Some  found  air,  some  earth,  some  water, 
some  fire.  Another  school  found  ideas, 
logic,  mathematics,  religion. 

Bacon  discarded  all  earlier  philosophies, 
accused  Aristotle  of  confounding  philos- 
ophy with  logic,  Plato  of  mixing  it  with 
religion,  others  of  other  faults,  and  founded 
a  philosophy  of  works,  to  be  reached  by  a 
contemplation  of  Nature. 

German  writers  have  written  at  length 
on  what  they  call  philosophy  but  have  de- 
veloped nothing  new.  Their  discussions 


34  THE  PRINCIPLE 

have  descended  to  wrangling  over  defini- 
tions. 

As  an  eternal  verity,  as  a  basis  of  things, 
as  a  perfect  idea,  as  resulting  in  works,  as 
a  Natural  law,  "The  Principle"  is  truly 
philosophic,  no  matter  what  school  is 
followed. 

"The  Principle"  guides  thought,  there- 
fore action.  Minds  are  increased  in 
strength  by  it.  Interest  in  all  literature, 
history,  biography,  fiction,  the  daily  news, 
current  discussions,  humor,  is  increased  by 
it.  A  lecturer  on  psychology  said  that 
'The  Principle"  was  the  best  expression  of 
practical  or  applied  psychology  ever  form- 
ulated. Maybe  it  is.  It  is  a  foundation  of 
every  other  branch  of  learning,  why  not 
include  psychology. 

Any  man  who  knows  his  business  is 
educated,  whether  he  can  read  and  write  or 
not.  If  he  sticks  to  his  business,  he  suc- 
ceeds. Schooling  is  of  less  importance  in 
education  than  is  usually  credited.  School- 
ing alone  is  never  education.  When  one 
tries  to  operate  beyond  their  ability,  they 
fail  or,  if  they  succeed,  the  success  is  acci- 


THE  PRINCIPLE  35 

dental.  There  are  so  many  ways  to  be 
wrong  to  each  one  way  to  be  right,  these 
accidents  are  remarkable. 

Judgment  teaches  you  what  to  do.  It  is 
born  with  us.  Skill  teaches  you  how  to  do. 
It  is  acquired  by  practice.  "The  Principle" 
teaches  you  when  to  do.  It  can  be  learned 
right  here.  It  is  not  taught  in  the  schools 
either  by  precept  or  practice.  Yet  it  is  the 
veritable  trunk  of  the  tree  of  knowledge. 

Labor  is  the  most  respectable  thing  in  the 
World.  It  seems  about  the  only  thing  that 
is  intrinsically  respectable.  The  greatest 
satisfaction  comes  from  some  construction 
with  our  own  hands,  without  help.  The 
man  with  the  hoe  is  to  be  envied,  not 
despised. 

Why  is  he  despised?  Because  he  despises 
himself.  He  is  envious.  He  is  ambitious. 
He  enters  into  political  combinations  that 
get  laws  passed  exempting  him  from  opera- 
tion of  general  laws,  outlawing  himself  by 
statute.  He  joins  unions.  They  decree 
various  things,  who  may  work,  who  may 
learn  how  to  work,  who  may  employ,  who 
may  not.  The  whole  World  seems  to  be 


36  THE  PRINCIPLE 

making  rules  for  the  other  fellow,  not  for 
themselves.  Unions  fall  in  line.  All  such 
things  violate  "The  Principle." 

What's  the  answer?  Follow  "The  Prin- 
ciple." Organize  if  you  want  to.  Strike  if 
it's  to  your  advantage.  Apply  the  three 
don'ts.  Don't  butt  in.  Don't  shirk.  Don't 
let  any  one  butt  into  your  business.  And 
especially  don't  agree  beforehand  to  let 
others  butt  into  your  affairs.  That  means 
don't  promise  to  follow  some  other  fellow 
till  you  know  where  he  is  heading. 

A  Natural  law  is  higher  than  any  statute. 
Statute  law,  through  fear  of  political  re* 
prisals,  has  exempted  labor  unions  from 
prosecution  and  legal  penalty  for  certain 
acts.  They  cannot  avoid  the  penalty  for 
the  breach  of  Nature's  law,  irresponsible 
authority.  When  they  know  and  apply 
"The  Principle,"  they  will  gain  the  respect 
they  deserve,  their  own  and  others. 

Capital  is  the  surplus  product  of  labor.  It 
is  available  until  wasted,  sometimes  for 
generations  after  its  accumulation.  It  is 
stored  power,  one  form  of  authority.  When 
used  with  a  feeling  of  responsibility,  it  is 


THE  PRINCIPLE  37 

good.  When  used  without  such  feeling,  it 
is  bad.  The  wrong  lies  in  its  irresponsible 
use. 

A  lot  is  said  about  the  conflict  of  capital 
and  labor.  Examination  shows  no  conflict. 
Irresponsible  performances  of  either  arouse 
antagonisms  of  the  other.  The  careless 
observer  has  come  to  think  the  conflict 
natural  and  unavoidable.  It  is  absolutely 
avoidable — by  applying  "The  Principle." 

The  Commonwealth  Club  of  California 
had  an  evening  to  discuss  Capital  and 
Labor.  The  Committee  changed  the  sub- 
ject to  Employer  and  Employe,  making 
three  parties  interested,  employer,  em- 
ploye and  the  public. 

The  proponent  of  Capital  or  Employer 
stated  that  he  disagreed  with  the  Commit- 
tee. He  did  not  think  the  public  were  to  be 
considered  and  made  his  talk  from  that 
viewpoint. 

The  proponent  of  Labor  or  Employe 
recited  that  Capital,  being  the  product  of 
Labor,  Labor  was  going  after  its  own.  He 
assumed  that  labor  and  labor-unions  were 
synonymous. 


38  THE  PRINCIPLE 

Neither  of  these  men  was  called  down. 
One  said  "The  public  be  damned."  The 
other  proposed  highway  robbery.  Yet 
the  Commonwealth  Club  is  made  up  of  men 
of  good  intentions. 

Some  years  ago  a  rich  man  called  in  one 
of  his  railroad  presidents,  proposed  a  cer- 
tain thing,  giving  instruction  that  it  be 
done.  The  president  demurred. 

"Can't  I  do  as  I  please  with  my  own?" 

"Not  entirely.  This  is  a  public  utility. 
It  must  render  service.  Your  proposal 
would  deteriorate  service  and  make  me 
liable  for  breach  of  laws  regulating  service." 

"Will  you  do  it?" 

"I  will  not." 

"Then  resign." 

In  a  few  years  the  aforesaid  rich  man  lost 
control  of  that  railroad,  also  of  all  other 
railroads  in  which  he  was  interested.  He 
is  in  no  sense  a  railroad  man,  which  had 
been  his  ambition  and  the  ambition  of  his 
father,  from  whom  he  had  inherited  great 
wealth  and  railroad  prestige. 

The  wrong  of  capital  is  getting  into  ir- 
responsible hands.  The  wrong  done  by 


THE   PRINCIPLE  39 

such  capital  is  not  a  good  reason  but  is 
somewhat  an  excuse  for  the  wrongs  of  labor. 
"An  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth" 
is  bad  practice.  Two  wrongs  never  made 
a  right.  Observance  of  "The  Principle" 
will  avoid  all  such  conflicts. 

Employment,  a  job  and  a  salary,  are 
always  in  request.  Unemployment  is  not 
solved  by  any  Country.  At  times,  it  is 
very  serious.  No  work,  no  pay.  No 
money,  no  food. 

Employment  is  one  form  of  acquired 
authority.  The  employe  who  shoulders 
his  responsibilities,  makes  good,  is  con- 
tinued longest  in  employment  and  hired 
first  after  unemployment.  When  the  other 
way,  he  is  first  fired  and  last  hired. 

What  brings  steadiest  employment,  big- 
gest pay?  It  isn't  brains,  or  strength,  or 
knowledge.  It  is  dependability.  Physique, 
brains  and  knowledge  are  desirable,  but 
reliability  is  the  real  thing.  Dependability, 
reliability,  are  entirely  indicated  by  "The 
Principle."  The  questions  are: 

Can  and  will  he  shoulder  the  responsibil- 
ity of  place? 


4<3  THE  PRINCIPLE 

Can  and  will  he  prove  dependable? 

Will  he  take  pride  in  his  work? 

These  exact  questions  may  not  be  asked 
but  they  are  in  the  mind  of  every  employer 
of  labor,  whether  the  employe  be  the  man 
with  the  hoe  or  a  railroad  president. 

The  Panama  Canal  is  a  wonderful 
example  of  violation,  then  partial  accord, 
finally  full  accord  with  "The  Principle." 

First,  Wallace  tried  to  shoulder  the  re- 
sponsibility of  performance  under  a  Com- 
mission in  Washington.  He  wasn't  a 
member  of  the  Commission  at  the  start. 
He  didn't  get  far. 

Then  Stevens  undertook  the  same  re- 
sponsibility. He  was  a  member  of  the  . 
Commission,  had  more  authority  than 
Wallace,  but  his  Commission  had  its  office 
and  president  in  Washington.  Stevens 
made  some  progress.  Then  a  set  of  con- 
ditions arose  under  which  Stevens  felt  that 
his  authority  was  not  commensurate  with 
his  responsibility.  He  severed  his  connec- 
tion with  the  work,  not  before  he  had  things 
going  well.  So  much  was  this  the  case  that 
Colonel  Goethals  said  once  when  patted  on 


THE  PRINCIPLE  4! 

the  back  "I  was  preceded  by  a  man  who 
understood  transportation.  My  progress 
is  somewhat  due  to  Stevens'  plan  for  the 
removal  and  disposal  of  the  material  of 
Culebra  cut." 

Then  the  responsibility  was  taken  by 
Goethals,  with  full  authority.  He  was 
Chief  Engineer.  He  was  President  of  the 
Commission.  The  rest  of  the  Commission 
were  largely  his  subordinates.  The  result 
was  the  most  successful  construction  or- 
ganization in  the  history  of  the  human  race. 

Wallace  and  Stevens  were  sacrificed  to 
the  education  of  Washington.  They  failed, 
not  from  lack  of  ability  but  from  lack  of 
authority.  Goethals  or  anyone  else  would 
have  failed  from  the  same  cause.  Goethals 
understood  "The  Principle."  He  didn't 
attempt  to  shoulder  the  responsibility  till 
he  had  sufficient  authority. 

The  writer  was  Chief  Engineer  for  a 
railroad  company,  the  Treasurer  being, 
say  Brown.  Brown  was  also  the  manager  of 
a  bank,  the  depositary  of  the  company. 

Brown  sent  word  that  the  appropriate 
thing  would  be  for  me  to  keep  my  personal 


42  THE   PRINCIPLE 

account  with  his  bank.  The  reply  was  that 
I  was  working  for  the  railroad  for  so  much 
per,  that  when  the  "per"  arrived,  it  was 
mine  to  handle  as  I  saw  fit. 

Brown  wanted  to  send  one  of  my  assist- 
ants off  for  a  month  on  some  private  work, 
asking  one  day  when  it  would  be  convenient 
for  him  to  go.  The  reply  was  that  it  would 
never  be  convenient,  that  he  was  needed 
where  he  was,  that  if  he  went,  he  would  be 
replaced  permanently. 

Brown  asked  why  a  certain  firm  was  not 
patronized.  After  investigation,  the  reply 
was  that  we  could  do  better. 

Brown  issued  an  order  that  all  bills  in 
excess  of  five  dollars  should  not  be  paid  in 
the  field  but  be  sent  to  his  office  for  pay- 
ment. I  called  Brown's  attention  to  the 
fact  that  this  would  hamper  the  work.  His 
reply  was  that  the  order  had  been  issued 
after  consultation  with  the  President  and 
it  must  be  obeyed.  This  correspondence 
was  bundled  up  and  sent  to  the  President 
with  about  this  letter:  "Despite  Mr. 
Brown's  statement  to  the  contrary,  I  do 
not  believe  that  you  are  issuing  your  orders 


THE   PRINCIPLE  43 

over  his  signature.  If  I  am  mistaken,  you 
may  replace  me  as  soon  as  convenient.  I 
am  personally  countermanding  the  order 
in  cases  where  obedience  will  hamper  the 
work."  The  order  was  countermanded. 

When  the  purchase  of  right  of  way  began, 
Brown  sent  word  that  he  had  some  men  he 
wanted  put  on  that  work.  The  reply  was 
"If  you  will  be  entirely  responsible  for  the 
integrity  and  ability  of  these  men,  they  will 
be  put  to  work  at  once.  If  I  am  to  be  in  any 
way  responsible,  you  may  submit  their 
names  and  qualifications." 

Brown's  last  meddling  act  was  to  return 
some  bills  asking  that  the  necessity  for  the 
purchases  be  written  across  their  face.  The 
reply  was  "These  bills  seem  regular.  They 
have  the  O.  K.  of  the  engineer  who  made 
the  expense.  They  have  the  approval  of 
the  resident  engineer  in  charge  of  that  di- 
vision. They  have  been  further  approved 
in  my  office  and  have  been  sent  to  your 
office  for  payment.  As  for  the  necessity, 
it  is  none  of  your  business  in  any  way,  shape 
or  manner." 

Brown  was  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for 


44  THE  PRINCIPLE 

embezzlement.  If  he  had  been  allowed  to 
butt  into  my  affairs,  I  might  have  been 
smirched.  As  it  was,  I  had  sustained 
intimate  business  relations  with  a  rascal 
for  two  years,  with  never  a  chance  to  lose  a 
cent  or  a  particle  of  reputation,  by  applying 
"The  Principle."  Application  is  always 
good.  It  is  wholly  worth  while. 

The  writer  had  a  chance  to  apply  "The 
Principle"  in  organizing  troops  for  France 
in  1918.  He  talked  it  directly.  He  showed 
its  application  in  every  day  affairs.  The 
usual  formula  with  new  officers  was  "We 
have  commissions  and  uniforms.  They 
make  us  look  like  officers  but  do  not  make 
us  so.  Our  commissions  give  us  the  right 
to  make  ourselves  officers  if  we  have  the 
ability.  Your  business  is  to  develop  the 
efficiency  of  the  enlisted  man.  To  the 
extent  you  do  it,  you  are  officers.  To  the 
extent  you  fail  to  do  it,  you  are  not  officers, 
no  matter  what  your  commissions  say.  My 
principal  business  is  to  see  that  you  do  it. 
This  is  the  general  problem.  Let's  go  to  it. 
If  doubts  arise  as  to  details,  come  and  see 
me.  That's  what  I'm  here  for." 


THE   PRINCIPLE  45 

Similar  instruction  to  non-coms  had  a 
visible  effect  in  esprit  de  corps.  That 
battalion  went  to  France  in  a  good  humor, 
worked  eleven  hours  a  day  for  months 
without  a  murmur  and  their  barracks  were 
the  show  barracks  of  Camp  Montoir. 

One  young  man  volunteered  for  service 
in  North  Russia  after  the  armistice.  In 
June,  1919,  he  wrote  me  a  chatty  letter 
from  a  box  car  alongside  Lake  Onega,  tell- 
ing of  his  work,  the  Country,  the  people,  and 
added  "I  want  to  keep  in  touch  with  you. 
I  specially  want  to  thank  you  for  "The 
Principle."  It  has  kept  me  out  of  most  of 
the  trouble  I  have  rubbed  against  and 
gotten  me  out  of  the  rest  of  it." 

The  officers  liked  it.  The  men  liked  it. 
Its  application  makes  a  good  organization. 
It  effects  the  best  kind  of  discipline.  There 
are  two  ways  to  spoil  a  man,  abusing  him 
and  coddling  him.  Fair  treatment  de- 
velops him  and  nothing  else  does.  "The 
Principle"  teaches  what  fairness  is  in  every 
case,  in  every  detail  of  every  case. 

Business  is  getting  production  to  the 
consumer.  It  is  a  necessary  activity,  a 


46  THE   PRINCIPLE 

little  overdone,  according  to  some.  It  in- 
cludes banking,  transportation,  storage, 
advertising,  wholesaling,  jobbing,  retailing, 
with  their  thousands  of  details. 

When  business  serves,  it  is  good.  When 
business  makes  others  serve  it,  it  is  bad. 
Each  kind  can  be  accurately  judged  by 
"The  Principle." 

Value  is  a  word  much  used  in  business. 
It  doesn't  mean  anything.  AH  value  is  a 
matter  of  opinion.  There  is  no  part  of 
value  that  is  anything  else.  Yet  the  term 
is  used  in  business  as  though  it  were  a 
matter  of  ascertainable  fact.  This  is  one 
of  the  fictions  of  business.  There  are 
others.  This  is  written,  not  to  point  out  a 
particular  reform  but  to  advertise  "The 
Principle,"  by  which  all  reforms  can  be 
effected. 

In  a  business,  there  is  always  a  nominal 
head.  If  this  is  also  an  actual  head,  pos- 
sessing the  means  (knowledge,  initiative, 
funds,  judgment;  in  other  words, authority) 
the  result  is  success.  Every  trouble  comes 
of  somebody's  butting  in  or  shirking.  Both 
crimes  are  sometimes  committed  by  the 


THE   PRINCIPLE  47 

same  act.  The  owners  butt  in  and  inter- 
fere with  the  management;  the  manager 
butts  in,  interferes  with  details,  withholds 
authority  where  he  expects  responsibility; 
departments  clash;  subordinates  fail  to 
obey  orders;  a  thousand  and  one  things  go 
wrong.  On  proper  analysis,  every  one  of 
the  troubles,  partial  failures,  complete 
failures,  can  be  traced  to  some  violation  of 
"The  Principle/' 

The  Navy  League  was  organized  to  arouse 
the  Country  to  our  need  of  a  larger  Navy. 
When  that  was  done,  its  original  purpose 
was  fulfilled.  So  far,  so  good.  Organizing 
for  a  desirable  and  legal  purpose  is  always 
good.  Some  dropped  out  at  this  stage  of 
the  performance.  There  was  still  a  large 
paying  membership.  With  no  chance  for  a 
membership  expression,  the  purpose  was 
changed.  It  was  to  do  other  things,  to  knit 
for  the  sailors,  to  publish  a  paper. 

Its  head  started  to  butt  into  the  affairs 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  The  paper 
published  a  statement  reflecting  on  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  that  was  never 
proven,  on  the  alleged  say-so  of  someone 


48  THE  PRINCIPLE 

that  was  never  named.  Look  at  all  that 
violation  of  "The  Principle."  Mr.  Daniels 
has  been  charged  with  many  things  about 
which  I  know  little  or  nothing.  If  his  every 
other  act  was  wrong,  resistance  in  this  case 
was  right. 

The  President  of  the  League  had  the 
welfare  of  the  Navy  at  heart.  He  may  have 
intended  to  benefit  the  Navy  and  the 
Country  by  his  action.  His  method  was 
wrong,  to  himself,  to  the  Navy  League,  to 
the  Secretary,  to  the  Navy,  to  the  Country. 
He  had  violated  'The  Principle." 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  Sates 
started  out  with  well  defined  authorities. 
The  Legislature  was  to  do  specific  things  in 
specific  ways.  So  with  the  Executive  and 
Judicial  departments. 

State  Constitutions  were  generally  in 
accord,  but  have  lately  varied  considerably 
from  that  of  the  United  States.  The  main 
divergences  lie  in  enacting  what  should 
have  been  statutes  as  constitutional  pro- 
visions. So  we  have  various  ideas  existing 
in  various  degrees,  as  laws,  some  of  which 
violate  "The  Principle." 


THE  PRINCIPLE  49 

Civil  Service  is  one  of  them.  It  started  as 
a  cure  for  "Turn  the  rascals  out"  or  "To 
the  victors  belong  the  spoils."  The  disease 
was  not  very  serious.  The  cure  is  many 
times  worse.  We  are  cursed  and  hampered 
by  Civil  Service  Commissions  in  National, 
State,  Municipal,  affairs.  They  dictate 
who  may  be  employed  and  examine  dis- 
missals, sometimes  ordering  re-instate- 
ments.  Their  legal  authority  is  great, 
their  assumptions  greater.  In  no  single 
case  is  Civil  Service  a  move  toward  effi- 
ciency or  economy.  In  every  case  it 
hampers  and  is  expensive.  In  no  case  is 
any  responsibility  shouldered  for  the  au- 
thority wielded. 

Commissions  generally  are  wrong.  Here 
is  cited  specifically  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission,  the  California  Railroad 
Commission,  all  other  California  Commis- 
sions, even  to  the  Commission  to  regulate 
Commissions,  the  Board  of  Control. 

Every  large  railroad  company  in  the 
United  States,  every  considerable  public 
service  corporation  in  the  State  of  Cali- 
fornia has  a  department  for  the  sole  purpose 


5O  THE  PRINCIPLE 

of  appearing  for  those  corporations  before 
the  Commissions  regulating  them.  The 
result  is  extra  cost  with  no  benefit.  In- 
creasing the  tax  eaters  at  the  expense  of 
the  tax  payers  is  bad  political  economy. 
"The  Principle"  is  violated  in  this  way. 
Commissions  are  given  irresponsible  au- 
thority by  the  law  creating  them.  Such 
authority  relieves  the  corporations  of  re- 
sponsibility. In  the  mix-up,  Commissions 
are  greedy  for  power,  corporations  are 
greedy  for  profits  and  the  public  pay,  the 
bills. 

The  Initiative  and  the  Referendum,  to  be 
intelligently  administered,  requires  every 
voter  to  study  every  law,  every  detail  of 
every  law,  so  enacted.  The  consequence  is 
that  they  are  not  intelligently  administered, 
do  not  add  to  efficiency,  complicate  voting, 
confuse  the  people,  make  expense  with  no 
benefit.  We  employ  legislators  to  make 
laws,  pay  them  for  it,  then  do  it  ourselves. 
And  so  we  get  the  privilege  of  voting  on  the 
California  Water  and  Power  Act,  choosing 
between  Socialism  and  the  inefficiency  of 
our  Railroad  Commission. 


THE  PRINCIPLE  5! 

The  Recall  of  elected  officials  relieves 
every  one  of  them  from  responsibility.  The 
recall  of  Judicial  decisions  spells  anarchy. 
That  has  not  yet  been  accomplished  but  is 
threatened.  It  is  entirely  in  line  with  the 
other  political  fads.  It  is  just  as  logical  as 
Civil  Service,  Regulative  Commissions  as 
they  are  administered,  the  Initiative  or  the 
Referendum.  These  things  are  all  per- 
fectly measured  by  "The  Principle." 

"The  Principle"  has  had  a  great  many 
approvals,  by  men  of  the  present,  men  of  the 
recent  past  and  men  long  gone.  It  has 
been  practiced  more  than  preached.  Care- 
ful search  will  show  that  it  has  also  been 
preached,  many,  many  times. 

"Every  one  shall  die  for  his  own  iniquity. 
Every  man  that  eateth  the  sour  grape,  his 
teeth  shall  be  set  on  edge." — Jeremiah,31,30. 

"He  that  thinks  of  the  greatness  of  his 
place  more  than  the  duty  of  his  place  shall 
soon  commit  misprisons." — Sir  Francis 
Bacon. 

"Let  us  stand  to  our  authority  or  let  us 
lose  it." — Coriolanus. 

"Thus  can  the  demi-god  authority  make 


52  THE  PRINCIPLE 

us  pay  down  for  our  offense,  by  weight.  The 
words  of  heaven,  on  whom  it  will,  it  will; 
on  whom  it  will  not,  so.  Yet  still  'tis 
just." — Measure  for  Measure. 

"Stay,  where's  your  commission,  Lord? 
Words  cannot  carry  authority  so  weighty." 
—Henry  VIII. 

"I  have  told  him  Lepidus  was  grown  too 
cruel;  that  he  his  high  authority  abused." 
— Antony  and  Cleopatra. 

"My  duty  will  I  boast  of,  nothing  else." 

"My  duty  pricks  me  on  to  utter  that 
which  else  no  worldly  good  should  draw 
from  me." — Two  Gentlemen  from  Verona. 

"I  should  not  urge  thy  duty  past  thy 

might." — Julius  Caesar. 

"But  'twas  a  maxim  he  had  often  tried, 
that  right  was  right  and  there  would  he 
abide." — The  Squire  and  the  Priest. 

"The  path  of  duty  was  the  way  to 
glory." — Tennyson. 

"Because  right  is  right,  to  follow  right 
were  wisdom  in  the  scorn  of  consequence." 
— Tennyson  in  Fatima. 

"A  sense  of  duty  pursues  us  ever.  It  is 
omnipresent  like  the  Deity.  If  we  take  to 


THE  PRINCIPLE  53 

ourselves  the  wings  of  the  morning  and 
dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea, 
duty  performed  or  duty  violated  is  still 
with  us,  for  our  happiness  or  our  misery." — 
Daniel  Webster. 

"He  who  through  force  of  will  or  of 
thought  is  great  and  overlooks  thousands, 
has  the  responsibility  of  overlooking." — 
Emerson. 

"Men  seek  to  be  great;  they  would  have 
offices,  wealth,  power,  fame.  They  think 
that  to  be  great  is  to  get  only  one  side  of 
Nature — the  sweet,  without  the  other  side 
— the  bitter." — Emerson. 

"Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes 
might;  and  in  that  faith  dare  to  do  our 
duty  as  we  understand  it." — Lincoln. 

"When  an  end  is  legal  and  obligatory,  all 
the  indispensable  means  to  that  end  are  also 
legal  and  obligatory." — Lincoln. 

"If  the  British  Government  in  any  way 
approach  you  directly  or  indirectly  with 
propositions  which  assume  or  contemplate 
an  appeal  to  the  President  on  the  subject 
of  our  internal  affairs,  whether  it  seem  to 
imply  a  purpose  to  dictate  or  to  mediate  or 


54  THE  PRINCIPLE 

to  advise,  or  merely  to  solicit  or  persuade, 
you  will  answer  that  you  are  forbidden  to 
debate,  to  hear  or  in  any  way  to  receive, 
entertain  or  transmit  any  communication 
of  the  kind." — Lincoln,  to  our  Ambassador 
to  England. 

"To  act  in  absolute  freedom  and  at  the 
same  time  to  realize  that  responsibility  is 
the  price  of  freedom,  is  salvation." — Elbert 
Hubbard. 

"A  corporation,  no  more  than  an  indi- 
vidual, can  be  bound  hand  and  foot  and  yet 
be  active  and  give  good  service." — Theo.  N. 
Vail,  1915. 

"There  is  a  tendency  on  the  part  of 
Bureau  officers  to  reach  out  for  more 
power,  even  if  they  do  not  assume  author- 
ity which  the  law  does  not  give  them." — 
John  W.  Weeks,  1915. 

"  The  Principle'  is  undoubtedly  violated 
by  many  of  our  present  day  practices,  both 
social  and  political.  It  is  well  for  us  to  be 
jarred  into  thinking  whether  each  item  of 
the  established  order  is  in  fact  the  right  and 
true  practice." — Harry  M.  Wright,  Master 
in  Chancery,  U.  S.  Court,  S.  F. 


THE   PRINCIPLE  55 

"You  have  put  the  matter  in  a  very 
interesting  way." — Max  Thelen,  San  Fran- 
cisco. 

"Hope  you  will  spread  the  truth  of  'The 
Principle'  far  and  wide." — Harry  F.Atwood, 
Lecturer,  Chicago,  1921. 

"I  have  been  following  'The  Principle* 
for  the  last  thirty-five  years,  discovering  it 
like  yourself  early  in  life,  since  when  I  have 
insisted  on  putting  it  into  operation  in 
everything  I  have  undertaken." — Geo.  W. 
Goethals,  1916. 

"  'The  Principle'  is  indeed  a  corner-stone 
to  an  orderly  condition  of  society  and  can- 
not be  too  strongly  emphasized." — Dr.F.W. 
Durand,  Stanford  University,  1916. 

"Thank  you  for  your  address  on  respon- 
sibility and  authority,  which  I  have  read 
with  much  interest  and  with  which  I  fully 
agree." — Jas.  K.  Lynch,  Gov.  Fed.  Res. 
Bank,  S.  F.,  1917. 

"I  have  been  an  upholder  of  'The  Prin- 
ciple' for  many  years,  but,  until  I  read  your 
paper,  I  was  not  aware  that  it  was  so  far- 
reaching." — Wm.  Kent,  Mechanical  En- 
gineer, 1917. 


56  THE   PRINCIPLE 

"I  cannot  imagine  any  success  unless 
power  goes  with  responsibility.  It  is  the 
principle  upon  which  I  have  always  acted 
and  am  acting  now." — Admiral  W.  S.  Sims, 
1918. 

"I  believe  every  word  of  it  and  have 
practiced  The  Principle'  for  years.  It  may 
be  of  interest  to  you  to  know  that  the 
affairs  of  the  Pacific  Fleet  are  administered 
in  accordance  with  The  Principle'  set  forth 
in  your  article." — Admiral  Hugh  Rodman, 
1919. 

'  The  Principle'  is  so  pithy  and  so  worth 
while  that  I  would  like  to  reprint  it  for  free 
distribution." — Alfred  Bickford,  Ex.  Sec. 
Assoc.  Industries  of  Seattle,  1921. 

:  The  Principle'  has  many  applications 
in  my  profession  of  medicine  and  surgery, 
As  you  say,  it  applies  to  all  activities." — 
Admiral  McCormick,  M.  C,  U.  S.  N.  1921. 

"I  thoroughly  enjoyed  reading  The 
Principle.'  Thank  you." — Admiral  H.  B. 
Wilson,  U.  S.  N.,  1921. 

"  The  Principle'  is  really  a  big  thing  and 
I  see  its  applicability  very  often.  I  use  it 
lots  of  times,  giving  you  more  or  less 


THE  PRINCIPLE  57 

credit." — Alex.  T.  Vogelsang,  Ex-Assistant 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Washington, 
1921. 

A  great  many  common  every  day  expres- 
sions are  partial  statements  of  "The  Prin- 
ciple," such  as: 

"Mind  your  own  business." 

"Noblesse  oblige." 

"Don't  bite  off  more  than  you  can  chew/' 

"Don't  butt  in." 

"Quit  rocking  the  boat." 

"Look  out  for  deep  water." 


EIGHT  HUNDRED  COPIES 

OF  "THE  PRINCIPLE"  HAVE  BEEN  PRINTED,  OF 

WHICH  FIVE  HUNDRED  ARE  FOR  PRIVATE 

DISTRIBUTION  BY  THE  AUTHOR 


941292 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


